Tossing discs



' July 9, 1957 M. P. FLUHRER Tossmc DISCS Filed April 28, 1954 WM INVENTOR.

3 Amr y I United States Patent TOSSING DISCS Marvin Paul Fluhrer, Wyoming, Ill. Application April 28, 1954, Serial No. 426,257 2 Claims. (Cl. 273=-1(I6) My invention relates to a disc to be used in playing hopscotch or other childrens games.

The objects of my invention are to provide a metal disc of suiiicient size and weight to be convenient for tossing it to a sectional figure drawn upon a sidewalk, floor or similar structure; to provide such a disc that will slide with facility upon a flat surface and which will have little or no ability to bounce; to provide such a disc with a marginal rim and with inset faces which can carry a color that will not easily rub off, having a beaded area on each side where the owners initials or other identification mark may be inscribed; and to provide bevelled edges for the rims to reduce or prevent rolling on edge, facilitate picking them up, and which will avoid or reduce nicking or indentation of the upper and lower edges of the disc.

I attain these objects by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top or plan view of my disc; and

Figure 2 is a cross-section on the middle line of Figure 1.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

My disc may be made as an integral casting or it may be machined from a blank in the form of a square with the four corners cut off making an octagonal figure, with the faces 4 representing the corners being somewhat smaller than the intermediate faces 5 representing the spaces between the corner spaces.

My disc is preferably made of zinc or other rust-proof metal or alloy of similar weight and with little or no resilience or elasticity. It comprises an octagonal rim 1 preferably about one-quarter of an inch in thickness with an integral circular center plate 2 about one-eighth of an inch in thickness and both sides of which are colored by painting or coating with some suitable color, shown as blue in Figure 1, but the colors being varied on different discs so as to provide ready identification means therefor.

On each side of the center plate a small area surrounded by a bead or boss 6 is provided on which the initials or other identification mark of the owner may be suitably inscribed. These areas are preferably about one-quarter of an inch by one-half an inch in size and the bead extends upwardly about one-sixteenth of an inch, but slightly below the outer face of the rim 1.

The outer edge of the rim of the disc 1 is bevelled and projects laterally as shown at 3 all the way around. The corners of the octagon are preferably rounded slightly to avoid scratching.

The circular center is preferably about four or five thirty-seconds of an inch in thickness.

I prefer to form these discs with an overall width of about two inches so that radial lines from the center to the middle of one of the straight surfaces would be about one inch and a line from the center to a corner would be approximately one and a quarter inches long, but the size, proportions and shapes of the various parts, as well as the material of which it is composed, may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention as expressed in the claims.

In the use of these discs for playing hopscotch or any similar game, a pattern comprising various numbered sections may be drawn upon a sidewalk 0r floor in the usual manner. A player will stand at a convenient distance from the base of the pattern so drawn and will toss his disc fiatwise to the pattern. It is common practice in the hopscotch game, to number the sections of the pattern serially and to play so as to land the disc upon the nearest section. After the disc is landed, the player tries to hop on one foot to the section where the disc is and to kick the disc back out of the pattern while still on one foot and then to hop out to his starting point.

The winner is supposed to be the one who can so play each of the various sections in order.

The game may be found described as hopscotch in some of the encyclopedias and may include various alterations as to ground rules.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a disc, suitable for the use of young people in playing the game of hopscotch, substantially octagonal in circumference and approximately two inches wide in its shortest diameter, with an outer rim approximately one-quarter to one-half an inch in thickness with an integral evenly spaced central portion approximately one-eighth of an inch in thickness and surrounded by the rim, the outer, upper and lower edges of the rim being beveled to facilitate the discs tipping over sideways if landing in vertical position on edge.

2. As an article of manufacture, a disc of zinc suitable for the use of young people in playing the game of hopscotch substantially octagonal in circumference and approximately two inches wide in its shortest diameter, with an outer rim approximately one-quarter to one-half an inch in thickness and with an integral evenly spaced central portion approximately one-eighth of an inch in thickness and surrounded by the rim, the outer upper and lower edges of the rim being beveled to facilitate the discs tipping over sideways if landing in vertical position on edge.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 303,816 Crosby Aug. 19, 1884 778,245 Howells Dec. 27, 1904 1,419,871 McDonald June 13, 1922 2,073,551 Grasnoif Mar. 9, 1937 2,146,457 Vernon Feb. 7, 1939 2,517,460 Arnn Aug. 1, 1950 2,657,059 Selig 'Oct. 27, 1953 

